


MiraculousTales: Origins

by TerminalMiraculosis



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017), Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/F, ML au! ML au! ML au!, THEYRE GAY!, They're humans in this btw, black cat!Lena, i know we all love ducks but... no, ladybug!Webby
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-04-30
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:48:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23881045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TerminalMiraculosis/pseuds/TerminalMiraculosis
Summary: On Webby's very first day of school, she trips, gets in trouble within an hour of the first bell, makes friends with a model girl in her class, almost dies when Paris is attacked by a supervillain, finds a pair of magical earrings that contain a tiny god, becomes a superhero, meets her mysterious feline superhero partner, gets in a fight with said supervillain, and saves her brothers from certain doom. If she had known public school wasthisexciting, she would've convinced her Granny to let her attend ages ago!A Miraculous Ladybug AU for Ducktales 2017.
Relationships: Lena (Disney: DuckTales)/Webby Vanderquack
Comments: 10
Kudos: 73





	1. First Day of School

**Author's Note:**

> THIS IS NOT MY AU!! I am just writing for it! The MiraculousTales AU was created by bideweyduck ([their blog](https://bideweyduck.tumblr.com/)) AKA [sherbertflowers](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sherbertflowers/pseuds/sherbertflowers) on ao3! When they brought it up I just. HAD to write for it so here I am but credit to them for the concept!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning all of my knowledge of french culture comes from ML which means I know basically nothing. So don't think too hard about how their school works, because I didn't.

_ Many centuries ago, magic jewels bestowing extraordinary powers were created. These were the Miraculous.  _

_ Throughout history, heroes have used these jewels for the good of the human race. Two of these Miraculous are more powerful than the others: the earrings of the Ladybug, which provide the power of creation, and the ring of the Black Cat, which grants the power of destruction. According to legend, whoever controls both these jewels at the same time will achieve absolute power. _

* * *

Scrooge McDuck was just about to flip over the bakery’s sign to OPEN when a squeaky voice spoke up from the other side of the room.

“Scrooge!” Tikki called, zipping out of the antique phonograph that Scrooge kept against the wall.

Scrooge reflexive checked his surroundings; Beakley was in the kitchen and Webby was still asleep, but there could still be early risers walking past the windows. He held up his hands in front of his face, and Tikki flopped down on them, hidden behind them.

“What is it, Tikki?” Scrooge whispered. “I’m just about to open the bakery.”

“I know, but we just sensed the peacock and butterfly miraculouses!” Tikki exclaimed. “They’ve been activated!”

“What?!” Scrooge shouted, before slamming a hand over his mouth and nervously looking around, but the bakery was just as empty as before. If Beakley had heard him, she clearly didn’t care. He continued on in a much quieter voice. “It only took them a decade to recover from the fight? But that’s—we’re not ready! With my injury…”

He didn’t bother finishing the sentence. The everpresent dull ache in his chest was becoming more prominent by the second as the memories flooded back. That battle had taken a toll on everyone involved; he couldn’t ask them to come back and fight it again.

Tikki nodded somberly. “I know. You’ll need to locate a new Ladybug and Chat Noir as soon as possible. They may be strong enough to transform, but I doubt that Luna Moth and Pavona are as powerful as they were ten years ago; it’ll be a bit of a trial by fire, but if you choose strong candidates, we should be able to hone their skills faster than our enemies regain their strength and end this once and for all.”

“But—but I don’t even know where to start looking!” Scrooge protested. “We could be under attack by an akuma or a sentimonster any day now—how am I supposed to find suitable candidates that quickly?”

Suddenly, a high-pitched squeal echoed through the bakery from above:  _ “FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!” _

Tikki smiled. “Who knows? They may be closer than you think.”

“Wh— _ no,” _ Scrooge said, pointing a finger at Tikki. “I am  _ not _ putting Webby in that kind of danger. She’s thirteen!”

“You know as well as I do that the younger they start, the stronger they become,” Tikki argued. “She’s not even close to the youngest Ladybug I’ve trained. Setting aside her age, she’s proficient in martial arts, espionage, and gymnastics, and she has exactly the sort of optimism and creativity that makes a good Ladybug. Don’t tell me you don’t see it.”

Scrooge frowned, his eyes sinking. “Tikki…”

She smiled sadly at him, and even though Scrooge was well over a hundred by now, that smile of hers always made him feel so very, very young. “You have to make this decision as the guardian of the miraculous,” Tikki said softly. “Not as an uncle.”

He sighed. “I know.”

Tikki flew up and gave his cheek a quick hug before flitting back over to the jukebox. Scrooge took a deep breath and flipped the bakery’s sign to start the day, unlocking the door with a sharp  _ click. _

* * *

Webby’s eyes snapped open at the very first note of her alarm’s ringtone. She immediately silenced the alarm, shot upright in bed, threw up her hands, and screamed.

“FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!”

She showered and got dressed with lightning efficiency before bounding downstairs to the kitchen, where her grandmother was sliding a tray of soon-to-be-croissants into one of the ovens. “FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!” she shouted again, jumping up and down.

“So I’ve heard,” Beakley said patiently, not so much as turning to look at her. “Is your backpack all set?”

“Yes! I have pencils, notebooks, binders, glitter pens, pocket knives, a first aid kit, more glitter pens, and my lockpick!”

“Very good, dear. Why don’t you go find breakfast, and then you can wait for the boys to get here, okay?”

“Very okay!” Webby said, bouncing out of the kitchen. 

She entered the main area of the bakery. Scrooge was standing behind the cash register, his face tense, tapping his fingers harshly against the countertop. He perked up a smidge when he saw Webby, though, shooting her a strained smile.

“Ah, Webbigail. Ready for your first day of school?”

“Am I?! Of course I am!” Webby chirped, snatching a few pastries from the displays and beginning to munch. “You and Granny have been preparing me for adventure my whole life! And what could be more of an adventure than braving the trials and tribulations of public school?”

Scrooge flinched a little at that, but Webby was too caught up in her own daydreams to notice. “…You might be surprised.” 

They both turned at the sound of the bell on the door chiming, and a girl not much older than Webby walked into the bakery. She was wearing a too-big sweater draped over a loosely-worn dress shirt, baggy jeans, and a pair of sneakers. Webby was immediately drawn to her hair, though, which was a sleek black that faded into a vibrant pink at the tips and swooped down across the top of her face. Her eyes, which were a mesmerizing purple, scanned around the bakery with idle curiosity, briefly making eye contact with Webby before moving on to take stock of all the available pastries. 

“What can I get for ya, lass?” Scrooge asked.

The girl blinked at him. “Uh, yeah, I’ll have a cinnamon bun and a chocolate chip muffin.”

Scrooge nodded. “Webby, would you mind?”

“On it!”

While Scrooge began punching away at the register, Webby snatched a bag and a sheet of wax paper, taking the baked goods out from their display cases and carefully placing them in the bag along with a handful of napkins.

“Say, lass, do you have anybody with you?” Scrooge asked as he ran her card through the reader. “It can be dangerous to walk around the city all alone.”

The girl rolled her eyes. “Uh, yeah, my parents are waiting outside. We’re going to go to the park and have a wonderful time as a family after this.”

Scrooge frowned, but didn’t say anything.

Webby ran around the counter, bag of pastries in tow. “Here you go—wah!” She yelped as her foot caught on the side of the counter and she flopped hard to the floor.

“Oh my god, are you okay?” asked the girl, bending down and helping her up.

Webby took her hand and lifted herself up. “Yeah, I’m—oh no! Your food!” Webby cried, looking down and the spilled bag. “I’m so sorry! Hold on, I’ll get you another—”

“Nah, don’t bother,” the girl said, waving her off and picking the bag up off the ground. “A little smeared icing isn’t gonna kill me. You sure you’re okay, though? That was one heck of a fall.”

“Oh, I’m fine!” Webby assured. “You wanna talk about bad falls, you should’ve seen my first back handspring. But thanks!”

“No problem,” the girl said. She turned to walk out of the store, throwing a peace sign over her shoulder as she went.

“She was nice,” Webby observed.

Scrooge hummed in contemplation, rubbing at his chin. “She sure was. I wonder…”

Webby looked up at him as he trailed off. “Wonder what?”

“Oh, just old man stuff,” Scrooge dismissed. “Say, Webby, I think the boys are here.”

“What?!” Webby leaned over the counter and looked towards the window, where Huey, Dewey, and Louie were crossing the street towards the bakery. “Oh, yes!” She snatched up her backpack and vaulted the counter, running off towards the door. “Bye Uncle Scrooge! I’ll see you at lunch! Love you!”

“Stay safe!” Scrooge called, but Webby was practically out the door at that point.

Webby burst out of the bakery and intercepted the triplet’s path, throwing her arms up into the air. “FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!” she shouted again.

“Hey Webby!” Dewey greeted.

“At least  _ someone’s _ excited for school,” Louie mumbled.

“Um, excuse you, I am  _ very _ excited for school,” Huey argued.

“You don’t count. You’re too much of a nerd.”

Huey grumbled something under his breath, and they began walking; McDuck Bakery was pretty close to the school, so it wasn’t long before they were at the front steps. Webby gazed up at the building in awe.

“Wow…”

“I’m so glad your grandma let you come to school,” Dewey said. “It’s gonna be a blast having you in class!”

“Yeah, what changed?” Louie asked. “From what you said, I thought Beakley was really big on the whole homeschooling, assassin-training thing.”

“It was spy training, but yeah,” Webby said. “She said that thirteen was when she did her first dead-drop mission, so it was probably old enough for me to go to school.”

“Well, this might not be as exciting as a spy mission, but I think you’ll have fun!” Huey encouraged.

“Me too,” Webby said as they climbed the steps and entered the busy courtyard of Collège Françoise Dupont. “Though, this is, wow, this is a lot of people.”

“Our school is actually one of the smaller ones,” Huey said.

Webby’s eyes bugged out as she stared at all the students. “This is  _ small? _ This is more people than I’ve seen in my life!”

“Wow, you really don’t get out much, huh?” Louie said.

“Hey, don’t worry!” Dewey said, laying a hand on Webby’s shoulder. “We’re in the same class. Why don’t you sit next to me? I get tired of Huey anyway.”

Huey rolled his eyes. “Who are you gonna copy notes from, then?”

“Webby? I thought that was obvious?”

“…Let’s just get to class,” Huey mumbled.

After several wrong turns and a brief debate about the school’s layout, they found their way to their classroom. Louie stopped them before the door, though, peeking through the window.

“Louie?” Huey asked. “What are you doing?”

“Recon!” Webby said, joining Louie by the window. “You gotta gather information before engaging!”

“See? Webby gets it,” Louie said. “Looks like there’s only one empty bench left, so Webby and Dewey can have that one. And the other empty seats are next to—”

“Oh!” Webby exclaimed, as her eyes landed on a familiar girl with pink-tipped hair, who was sitting by herself on her phone. “I know her! She came by the bakery this morning! I… kind of tripped in front of her and dropped her order. Oh, god, this is gonna be so embarrassing!”

“We can just put Huey next to her,” Louie reasoned. “After a few classes with him, you’ll be a breath of fresh air.”

“I resent that,” Huey said.

“Wait a second!” Dewey said, pressing his face against the glass. “That’s Lena de Spell! The model!”

Louie raised an eyebrow. “Wait, de Spell? Don’t they live in that creepy old mansion out by the Seine? They’re like, total recluses.”

“Then what's she doing in public school?” Huey wondered.

“A model? Well no wonder she’s so pretty,” Webby said. The boys all turned to look at her, and she felt her cheeks flush. “Um—we should get inside before class starts! Come on!”

She turned her face away and hurried into the classroom.

* * *

Lena sighed to herself, refreshing her feed over and over again and reading none of it as she waited at her desk for class to start. She was having a weird day. 

Her Aunt Magica, who was, unfortunately, her closest living relative and thus her legal guardian, had, for about the past eight or so years of her life, hired a series of tutors to homeschool her, despite Lena’s repeated and increasingly desperate requests to transfer to a public school. There were several reasons why Lena wanted to go to school, and almost none of them had to do with learning, or with making friends, or with experiencing a ‘regular childhood,’ whatever that meant—no, her reasons basically boiled down to wanting to get out of that house and away from her aunt for as long as possible each day.

But Aunt Magica didn’t trust her to leave the mansion, so she’d been denied over and over again. Until last week, that is, when Magica had suddenly agreed to let Lena attend public school. She had attributed her change of mind to ‘getting tired of seeing your pathetic, wretched little face around the house all the time,’ but considering Lena was, you know, literally a model, she had reason to suspect her face was doing just fine.

She supposed it was possible that Magica had finally decided to start being nicer to Lena, and letting her go to school was a gesture of good will, but that seemed… unlikely. But she wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

She was brought out of her thoughts as four more kids entered the classroom, mumbling amongst themselves. She recognized one of them as the pink girl who had been working at the bakery this morning; well, she supposed one familiar face was better than none. The other three boys must have been brothers—they were practically carbon copies of one another, except for the colors of their clothes.

Pink girl shot her a small smile before sitting down next to blue boy at the desk in front of Lena’s. Green boy took the open seat next to the jock girl across the aisle from them, and then, lastly, red boy sat down next to Lena.

“Do you mind if I sit here?” he asked.

“Nope,” Lena said, slipping her phone into her pocket.

“Great! I’m Huey.”

“Lena.”

He unzipped his backpack and pulled out what was frankly a preposterous amount of binders and notebooks, as well as a pencil case so stuffed it looked like it was about to burst. “I know this is your first year of public school, so if you have any questions don’t be afraid to ask!”

Lena nodded. “Oh, I see. You’re a nerd.”

“W-what?” Huey frowned.

Lena gestured at him vaguely. “Overly prepared, offering to help me in school, dumb polo shirt, wearing a hat indoors. Classic nerd.”

“I, um. Well—it’s just. So.” Huey cleared his throat. “My… brother says you’re a model?”

“Which one recognized me?” Lena asked. “Blue or green?”

“Dewey.”

Lena gave him an unimpressed look.

Huey rolled his eyes. “Blue.”

“Right, that makes sense. He looks like he reads teen fashion magazines,” Lena said. “But yeah. I’m a model.”

“That must be… fun.”

Lena shrugged. “Not really.”

“Oh.”

Lena smirked at him. “So, what’s your deal? Does everyone in your family have their own color?”

“No,” Huey said, giving her an unimpressed look..

“What if two people like the same color?” Lena asked. “Do you have to fight over it? Is there like a competition?”

He crossed his arms. “That’s not a thing. I just happen to like red, and Dewey happens to like blue, and Louie happens to like green. It’s not, like, a  _ thing.” _

“What about pink?” Lena asked.

“Oh, Webby?” Huey glanced in front of them, at where Webby and Dewey were fiddling around with Dewey’s calculator and snickering. “We only really met her when we moved back to Duckburg in the summer. She lives with our Great Uncle, though, so she’s practically our sister.”

“Wouldn’t that make her your cousin if she lives with your uncle?”

“Technically, it would make her our second cousin,” Huey corrected.

“Heh,” Lena said. “Nerd.”

Huey gave her an aghast look. “But—but you asked!”

“Sorry, I don’t make the rules.”

“That doesn’t even make any  _ sense.” _

Their conversation was tragically cut short by the arrival of the teacher. She was wearing a nicely-patterned dress, had her hair held up by a black ribbon tied in a bow, and left a trail of sharp clacks behind her as she walked across the classroom, courtesy of her prim black heels.

“Hello, class,” she said, setting down her purse by her desk. “I’m Ms. Duck, and I’ll be your French teacher this year, as well your homeroom teacher. Feel free to come to me with any questions or concerns about classwork, or the school, or… well, anything, really.” She smoothed out her skirt and sat down, opening up a laptop and clearing her throat. “Now, let’s get down to business. Say ‘here’ when I call your name, and let me know if you go by anything else. Lena de Spell?”

“Here,” Lena said lazily.

“Boyd Drake?”

“Here!” announced the boy sitting behind the green triplet, across the room.

“Duford Duck?”

Lena blinked. Duck? 

“Wait,” Lena whispered, turning to Huey. “Is the teacher your  _ Mom?!” _

“No!” Huey hissed back. “It’s just a really common last name!”

When she didn’t get a response, Ms. Duck looked up and scanned the classroom. “Duford? Do we have a Duford?”

Lena glanced at Dewey, who was still messing around with the bakery girl, completely oblivious to the teacher. Huey leaned over the desk and bonked him on the head.

“WHAT?” Dewey exclaimed, jumping up and looking straight at the teacher. “Hi! Yes! What’s happening?”

Ms. Duck gave him a tired expression. “I’m taking roll. You’re Duford?”

“Yes! Or, well—I go by Dewey?”

“Right.” Ms. Duck tapped something on her computer. “Please pay attention, Dewey.”

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

“Hubert Duck?”

“Here,” Huey called. “I go by Huey.”

“Got it. Lle—”

“It’s Louie,” cut in the green one before she could finish. “Just Louie.”

“…Alright.” Ms. Duck prepared to call the next name, but she stopped as giggling broke out from Dewey and Webby’s desk, where Dewey had managed to balance a pencil on his nose. Lena thought it was actually mildly impressive, but Ms. Duck didn’t seem to share her sympathies. “Dewey.”

“Sorry!” Dewey apologized, snapping his head forward once more and inadvertently sending the pencil flying towards Ms. Duck, who caught it deftly between two fingers. “Sorry,” he repeated.

“Don’t apologize,” she instructed. “Improve.”

“Um—right.”

She continued taking roll, and Lena quickly tuned it out, turning back to Huey. “Is he always like that?”

“Who?” he asked.

“Blue.”

“Oh, Dewey? Yeah, kind of. Normally I sit next to him to help him focus, but he wanted to sit next to Webby since it’s her first day of school. We’ll… see how long it lasts.”

“Heh. Yeah,” Lena agreed.

Meanwhile, Ms. Duck was reaching the end of the attendance list. “Violet Sabrewing?”

“Here,” stated the girl sitting across the aisle from Lena without looking up. 

Lena gave her a quick once-over, and easily pegged her as another nerd, judging by the fact that she was already reading through the French textbook and taking notes. Lena may not have been to school before, but even she knew that was abnormal.

“Webbigail Vanderquack?”

“Here!” chirped the bakery girl, giving an emphatic wave. “I’m Webby!”

“Alright, everyone’s here. Perfect.” Ms. Duck hit a few buttons on her laptop, then stood up and grabbed a piece of chalk, approaching the blackboard. “Today, we’ll mostly be going over the syllabus and outlining classroom procedures; I know it can be a bit tedious, but I ask that you please pay attention. I’m not a fan of repeating myself.”

She shot a quick side-glance at Dewey as she said that; he didn’t notice.

“This oughta be good,” Lena mumbled under her breath.

Sure enough, thirty minutes later, Ms. Duck had confiscated a Rubik's cube, a deck of playing cards, two yo-yos, and a grappling hook gun. (That last one had been Webby’s; she had tried to use it to get one of Dewey’s yo-yos back.) Currently, she was standing sternly in front of Dewey and Webby’s desk, her hands on her hips, 

“Okay, I’m nipping this one in the bud,” she said. “What’s the deal here? You two have been distracting the class ever since we started.”

“Ah! I’m so sorry, Ms. Duck!” Webby blurted out anxiously. “I’m—it’s probably my fault, it’s my first day of school—or, well, of public school—and I’m not very good at this yet! I wanted to sit next to a friend but I’ve probably just been distracting him, and—”

“Do you think swapping seats with someone will help?” Ms. Duck interrupted before Webby could spiral any further.

“…Probably,” Dewey admitted.

“I’ll swap,” Huey said immediately, throwing up a hand.

“Aren’t you two brothers?” Ms. Duck asked, twitching a finger between him and Dewey. “Would that be any better?” 

“Oh, it’ll be better,” Louie assured from across the room. “Huey’s super boring. It cancels Dewey out.”

Ms. Duck seemed to consider that for a moment, then shrugged. “Well, alright. But too many more disruptions, and I’m going to have to take things into my own hands, okay?”

“Yes ma’am,” the three of them said in unison.

Lena watched in subdued fascination as Huey and Webby swapped seats. Webby was clearly nervous as she sat down, laying out her notebook and binder in front of her carefully and stealing small glances at Lena all the while.

“Hi,” she said, after a second. She still hadn’t managed to meet Lena’s eyes, though; maybe it was the model thing? “I’m Webby.”

“Bakery girl,” Lena said. “I remember. I’m Lena.”

“Um—yeah. Clumsy bakery girl. That’s, uh—that’s me!”

“Nice to see you again,” Lena said with a small smile. “Those pastries were really good.”

“O-oh, I’m glad!” Webby said. “My granny makes most of the food there. She’s great at, like, everything. I love your hair!”

Lena reached up to finger her dyed tips. “Heh. Me too. I like your bow, by the way. It’s cute.”

Webby’s eyes lit up. “R-really?! You think so?”

Lena shrugged noncommittally, and that seemed to be equivalent to a gushing compliment in Webby’s eyes, because she smiled giddly through her blush before turning back to her books. 

Lena gave her a curious smile; she was fun. She hadn’t come here to make friends, but—maybe she could anyway? Something to think about. She’d just have to keep Aunt Magica from finding out, but that shouldn’t be hard; it wasn’t like she gave a crap about anything Lena did anyway. 

As Ms. Duck continued with the class, Lena leaned back on the bench, crossed her arms, and listened to the lecture, trying her best to ignore the not-so-sneaky looks Webby kept throwing her way. She had a feeling this was going to be an interesting year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I know not much happens this chapter but I PROMISE the superhero antics are coming lmao. This is just... turning out to be a lot longer than I thought it would be. But I'm very excited!


	2. Overflow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Be nice to your teachers, folks.

Webby wasn’t very good at talking with kids her age. She hadn’t known any before the triplets had moved back to Duckburg over the summer, so she was a bit behind. The boys had helped a lot, though; their Uncle Donald regularly carted them over to the bakery for Scrooge to watch, and so she had become fast friends with them.

But they were the only friends she really had at the moment, so she still wasn’t very good with talking to kids her age. And since they were all boys, she was especially bad at talking with other girls her age. And, as she was immediately finding out, she was  _ especially _ especially bad at talking to  _ pretty _ girls her age.

French class had just ended, and they were waiting for the science teacher to arrive. Lena, who had sat patiently and silently all class, much to Webby’s combined relief and disappointment, took that moment to turn to her with those beautiful deep purple eyes with their immaculate eyeshadow, and that awesome hair that flowed just across the curve of her eyebrow, and that mouth with just a hint of lip gloss that was currently moving, and—

Wait.

“Um—” Webby flushed. “Sorry, were you saying something?” 

Lena raised an eyebrow, but the smile stayed firmly on her face. “Yeah? I was asking what you thought of Ms. Duck.”

“Oh, Daisy?”

Lena’s eyebrow climbed higher. “You know her?”

“Not really,” Webby said. “She comes by the bakery pretty regularly though. She, um, seems like a good teacher! I’ve only ever had my granny to teach me before though, so, I don’t really know I guess.”

“She seemed a lot better than the old hags my aunt hired to tutor me,” Lena said. “They were awful.”

“Then… you must be excited right?” Webby asked hopefully. “I know I am! I’ve wanted to go to public school for  _ years!” _

“Same,” Lena said. “I’ve only been here for like an hour and a half, but after so long in that stuffy old mansion it feels like a lifetime.”

“Tell me about it! I mean, secret spy training is great and all, but it got really lonely after a while.”

“Secret spy training?” Lena asked.

“Eep!” Webby squeaked, throwing a hand over her mouth. “Um! No, I said—bakery training?”

“No, you said secret spy training,” Lena said, leaning forward and resting an elbow on the desk. “I thought there was something weird about you keeping a grappling hook in your backpack. Who knew little Pink had so many skeletons in her closet?”

Webby grabbed Lena by the collar of her sweater and pulled her in close.  _ “How do you know about the skeletons?” _ she hissed.

“It’s—it’s an expression,” Lena said, her eyes holding a mixture of mirth and fear.

“Oh!” Webby said, letting her go with a nervous laugh. This conversation was a mess. She was a mess. Why was she being such a mess right now? “Hey, how about we just forget all about all of that?”

“My lips are sealed,” Lena said, her cool smile returning to her face.

Webby couldn’t help but return her smile tenfold. “Are we—are we friends now?”

Lena shrugged. “Sure, Pink. It’ll give me an excuse to get out of the house. Besides, you need someone other than your dopey brothers to hang out with.”

Webby giggled, and Huey turned around from in front of them to shoot Lena a small glare. She mouthed ‘nerd’ back at him, before shooting Webby a conspiratorial look, which made her erupt into even more giggles.

It wasn’t long before their science teacher arrived. He was tall and lanky, and introduced himself as Dr. Gearloose; Violet had casually asked what he had gotten his doctorate in, and he had dodged the question. Webby didn’t quite know what to make of that.

He followed the same general pattern that Ms. Duck had, going over the syllabus and the classroom rules, making sure everybody had the textbook, and reviewing expectations for homework, tests, and grading. Webby listened raptly, but she could clearly tell that her fellow classmates were getting a bit bored. 

That is, until Dr. Gearloose announced that he had brought in something special for the first day of class. 

“Since electromagnetic currents are in the curriculum this year, I thought I’d give you a little demonstration,” he said, placing a hefty object onto the desk. It was about as big as a microwave and covered by an unassuming tarp. “You see, I’m a bit of an inventor myself; pushing the envelope of science and all that.”

“Mmhmm,” snarked Louie, resting his chin in his hand, the perfect picture of boredom. “That must be why you’re teaching at a middle school.”

Dr. Gearloose shook his head. “Uh uh uh! Just because genius isn’t  _ recognized _ doesn’t mean it isn’t  _ there.” _

“Oh! Is that like how my Uncle calls himself smooth with the ladies even though he’s never had a girlfriend?” Dewey asked.

“…Please raise your hand if you have a question,” Dr. Gearloose said through gritted teeth.

Dewey raised his hand. 

Dr. Gearloose gave him a looooooooong stare. “Yes, Dewey?”

“Is that like how my Uncle calls hims—”

“No,” Dr. Gearloose said. “It isn’t. Now, if there aren’t any more  _ interruptions, _ I’d very much like to get on with the demonstration. Ta-da!” 

He flung off the sheet to reveal… a toaster? Webby leaned forward and narrowed her eyes. It sure  _ looked _ like a toaster, but it also had a bunch of wires coming out of it, connecting to various gadgets she didn’t recognize that were taped to the sides. There was also a single lightbulb placed on a metal stand a few inches away.

“…What?” Lena mumbled from next to her. Webby couldn’t help but agree.

“Pretty sure someone already invented that, dude,” Louie said.

“Aha, but this is no  _ ordinary _ toaster!” Dr. Gearloose declared. “I’ve rigged it up to create a strong electromagnetic field. That way, it will—”

“—be able to power the lightbulb remotely by passing an alternating current through to the receiver in the light bulb’s stand!” Huey exclaimed, smiling widely. “I did the same thing for my science fair last year!”

“You—” Dr. Gearloose paused, looking between Huey and the toaster. “You did?”

“Wow, Mr. Gearloose, this isn’t really seeming that impressive if even _ Huey _ can do it,” Louie droned.

“ _ Doctor _ Gearloose,” he corrected. “And I’d like to see  _ you _ try to build one!”

“Oh, and now you’re picking a fight with a thirteen year old? Real mature.”

“Mr. Duck, I am  _ this _ close to sending you to the Principal’s office,” Dr. Gearloose threatened, holding his hands a hair’s width apart.

“Sorry, sorry,” Louie said. “Continue with your electro toaster thing. I’m sure it’s very cool.”

“It  _ is _ very cool,” Gyro said, walking back over to the desk. “Watch what happens when I turn it on.”

He turned the heat setting on the toaster up until it clicked, and Webby let out a dramatic gasp. A few seconds later, she leaned over towards Lena. “Wait, what happened?”

“I’m pretty sure nothing happened, Pink,” Lena mumbled back.

“Oh.” Webby looked over to where Louie was desperately trying to hold in his laughter. “Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.”

“Ugh! Stupid thing,” Gyro grunted, banging on his toaster. “It was working this morning!”

_ “Oh my god,”  _ Louie wheezed, still very dedicatedly managing not to laugh.

“Wait, Mr. Gearloose!” Huey called. “I think—”

“DOCTOR!” Dr. Gearloose shrieked. “It’s  _ DOCTOR _ Gearloose!”

“More like—” Dewey snickered a little, leaning in towards Huey and speaking in a whisper. “More like doctor  _ screwloose!” _

Except Dewey was a terrible whisperer. Webby felt like she was watching a train crash in motion as Dr. Gearloose’s eye began twitching, but before he could say anything, Huey piped up again.

“But, um, as I was saying—I think I know what’s wrong?”

“Of course you do. Of course you do!” Dr. Gearloose threw up his hands. “Why  _ wouldn’t _ you, some  _ random _ child I just met, know what’s wrong with the invention that  _ I _ invented? That’s just—that’s just perfect!” He groaned dramatically. “Okay, let’s hear it, then! Let’s hear it.  _ What’s  _ wrong with it?!”

Huey gulped. “It’s, um. Not plugged in,” he said gently, pointing at the power cord hanging off the side of the desk.

Dr. Gearloose blinked. “Oh.”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Louie cackled, doubling over his desk. “OH MY  _ GOD!” _

He wasn’t the only one; the girl next to Louie (Goslyn? Webby thought it was Goslyn) was laughing blatantly as well, and even Lena was giving a few chuckles. They seemed to roll off her tongue, light and sweet, like candy. Webby probably would’ve been giggling, too, but instead she was just sitting there, looking at Lena as she laughed to herself and thinking about—

_ BRRRIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNG!! _ said the schoolbell. Lena turned sharply at the sudden noise, which meant she was turning towards  _ Webby, _ so Webby blushed and turned away too, because she had  _ totally _ just been staring at Lena and—

“LUNCH TIME!” Dewey shouted, jumping up from his desk. “WOO HOO! Come on, Webby!”

“Uh—yeah! Be right there!” Webby said. Then she turned to Lena. “Hey, um—we’re probably going to go back to the bakery for lunch, if you wanna maybe join us or something?”

Lena smirked. “Does that mean I get a free pastry?”

“Haha!” Webby swallowed. “Um. Probably not? Uncle Scrooge isn’t big on free stuff. But I’d still really like it if you would—”

“I’m joking, Pink,” Lena said, rolling her eyes. “Of course I’ll come. I’m not exactly rolling in friends here anyway.”

“Yay!” Webby beamed, shoveling her supplies back into her bag. “Alright! Great! Let’s—let’s go then!”

Lena slung her bag over her shoulder all cool-like. “Let’s go, then.” 

As they left the classroom, Webby could  _ feel _ the heat on her cheeks. 

Oh.

Oh, this was  _ bad. _

Nope! Not thinking about it! Lunch time! “Hey, Dewey!” she called. “Wait up!”

* * *

Miles away, in a hidden room in the de Spell manor, Pavona smirked behind her hand fan. “Do you feel that, Luna Moth?”

_ “I do, Pavona,” _ came a voice from the communicator in her fan.  _ “Are you ready?” _

“Oh,” Pavona crooned, “I’ve been ready for a  _ long _ time.”

She plucked a feather off her fan and clenched her fist around it, imbuing it with a sickly dark energy. Then she opened her hand and blew it away, sending it tumbling out of the window, where an unseen wind picked it up and carried it off above Paris.

“Fly away, my precious amok!” Pavona announced with a devious smirk. “Seek those dark emotions!”

* * *

“Oh, well this is just  _ great!” _ Gyro fumed once all the kids had left for lunch. “If it wasn’t enough that everybody  _ else _ in my life thinks I’m some idiot, now a class of schoolchildren think I’m one too! I  _ knew _ this job would be a bad idea…”

He trailed off into grumbles as he packed up his electromagnetic generator. He heard something snap as he shoved it roughly into his bag, but at this point, he was two seconds away from smashing the whole thing against the wall anyway.

It was mostly those stupid  _ Duck  _ triplets. He had only known them for an hour and a half, but they were positively  _ infuriating. _ He swore, if they hadn’t been  _ antagonizing _ him so much, he would’ve remembered to plug in the damn generator! 

He was just removing the lightbulb from its stand to put it away when he caught sudden movement in the corner of his eye. He turned and saw a purple butterfly flapping towards him through the window, accompanied by a dark purple feather.

“What in the name of Gyro Gearloose…?” Gyro muttered, adjusting his glasses to get a better look. He didn’t have much time to ponder them, though, before they hit the lightbulb in his hands and seeped inside, turning it into a nasty shade of purple.

_ Technomancer, _ spoke a voice in his head.  _ I am Luna Moth. _

_ And I am Pavona, _ said another voice.

_ I am giving you the power to turn all of your greatest inventions into irrefutable realities, _ said Luna Moth.  _ It’s time you showed all those nonbelievers how much a genius you really are. _

_ And I am giving you control over your very own sentimonster who shall assist you as your obedient servant, _ Pavona said.  _ All we ask in return is that you recover a few pieces of jewelry for us when the time comes. _

A dark grin split across Gyro’s face. “I’m in.” 

A bubbling purple film overtook his body, and soon he was clothed in a skintight teal suit, complete with a stylized welding mask. He had a massive glowing lightbulb strapped to his back, its surface shimmering as if it were almost a portal into a radiant void. Additionally, an equally giant lightbulb was standing in front of him on a pair of mechanical legs, triumphantly raising its arms in the air. The filaments in its casing bent diagonally inwards, giving the illusion of a pair of angry eyes.

“You must be the servant I was promised,” Technomancer said. “Let’s see, I’m gonna call you… Big Bulb.” He shrugged. “Eh. I’ll think of something better once I’ve  _ proven _ to  _ all of Paris _ that nobody should underestimate my engineering genius!”

He hopped onto the shoulders of Big Bulb, pointing to the outer wall of the classroom. “Onward, Big Bulb! To triumph!”

With a flash of light, Big Bulb shout out a giant laser that knocked out a whole chunk of the wall, before leaping out into the city. Technomancer smiled; revenge truly was the sweetest dish, and he was  _ hungry. _


End file.
